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(CNN) – New York’s Grand Central Terminal turns 100 years old today. The iconic train station on Manhattan’s 42nd street remains a popular destination for commuters and tourists alike. Three-quarters of a million people pass through the majestic building everyday.

[2:13] “It is not only beautiful and an architectural treasure as you can see, but it is an enormously well functioning room,” said Peter Stangl, Chairman of the Grand Central Terminal Centennial Committee.

[1:22] “Even during rush hours you very seldom see people bumping into each other… There’s a magic dance that people do coming through here. It doesn’t matter how crowded it is. It’s fascinating at times.”

It’s amazing that the terminal still exists. Built in 1913, it nearly fell victim to the wrecking ball, but was saved by a landmark preservation movement spearheaded by Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis. Stangl says a massive project in the 1990’s restored Grand Central to its original grandeur.

[4:29] “What we tried to do in the restoration was to, first of all, maintain it as a functioning railroad station, secondly, to restore both the parts you can see and the parts you can’t see.”

I grew up in rural southern Vermont and I remember as a child walking into Central Station on my first visit to New York and being awed by the scale and beauty of it all. When I think of other places that conjured up similar feelings, I can't help but think of seeing the green grass inside Fenway Park in Boston for the first time. These are magical cultural milestones that thankfully people had the foresight and sense to preserve. We would all be poorer had these treasures been discarded.

Buildings like Grand Central Station represent nothing more than hoarding in the public sphere. We would be better served if we demolished useless structures and replaced them with useful things no matter how loudly the architectural snobs/hoarders of the commons squealed.

Aw, C'mon. For 40 years, almost daily, I walked through the wonderful space of Grand Central on the way to my office in the (then called) Pan American building, which, incidentally was built almost on top of the grand old station. And I am not an architectural snob, but I love fine old buildings.

Luckily those in Europe do not think the way you do or we'd have nothing to go see. Unfortunately too many DO think like you. In my town, they tear down everything over 50 years so we have almost nothing historical to see. Old buildings are our history. They represent where we've been, who we were, who we are becoming. They can also mean lots of tourist dollars as others want to see them and will pay to see them. As a huge Frank Lloyd Wright fan, I'm glad that many of his buildings were not torn down, even though some are over 100 years old.

And to think it nearly had the fate as Penn Station – demolished to build hideous structures. Decent citizens of NYC stood up against the busy-fingered, shadowy, rodent-looking NYC property developers.

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I always loved Grand Central. This quote, "Even during rush hours you very seldom see people bumping into each other… There’s a magic dance that people do coming through here", reminds me of the scene in The Fisher King where the rush hour crowd transforms into everyone dancing with each other. One of my favorite movie scenes and captures that quote perfectly.

The 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s were a cultural wasteland in terms of architectural design, and the 1980s weren't much better. Losing Grand Central would have been a catastrophe – it's a magnificent building, perfectly suited to its function and its site.

The real shame about Penn Station is that they tore down the original structure in the early 1960's to make way for Madison Square Garden. Just another glaring example of how we demolished our architecture heritage in the destructive 1960s and 70s...

@Chad31 It was the demolish of the old Penn Station that led to the saving of Grand Central. While the current Penn Station cramped, dank and unappealing, the old Penn Station wouldn't have been able to handle the number of commuters who use Penn Station today. As it stands right now the current Penn Station is well over capacity. I wish the old building was still with us but the city's leaders still would have had to do something to expand the station over the years. Thanks for listening to my story.

I agree, while we lost a great station it did put a stop to the demolition to other buildings with architectural significance. However this country has lost its ability to create great "classic" designed buildings which may or may not suit the needs of a modern society.

I'm with Tyler. Just contrast an Art Deco skyscraper like the Chrysler Building with a 1960s glass box like the Metlife Building. Our buildings today are too often big, ugly, and designed more for appearance than function.